Post on 22-Jan-2018
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WE ARE SOCIAL ANIMALS
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WHAT IS OCTOPUS GROUP?
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BUT WHEN SOCIAL MEDIA HITS B2B…THINGS CAN FEEL A BIT ANTI-SOCIAL
BUT WHEN IT COMES TO SOCIAL MEDIA IN B2B…
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WHY IS SOCIAL IMPORTANT
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…LIKE YOU ARE BEING WATCHED
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IS IT WORTH THE RISK?
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BENEFITS OF EXPERTISE AND ADVOCACY
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Traffic generated by IBM internal experts in social media converted seven times more frequently than traffic generated by other IBM sources. “In social media,” state the authors, “people – not brands – are the channel.”
– Chris Boudreaux and Susan Emerick
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SOCIAL IS AN INFORMATION PREFERENCE
Q2. On balance, in what ways do you generally prefer to find out about products, services or suppliers?
10%
22%
17%
36%
24%
47%
5%
13%
34%
29%
34%
29%
Print media
Online media
Social media
Analyst recommendations
Email contact from vendor
Vendor websites
25-44 year olds
45-64 year olds
Base: Total (400)
Social influence is growing in stature, especially in the 45yrs and under
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WHAT DOES AN ADVOCATE LOOK LIKE?
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Execs LeadersR&D
ExpertsIT LeadersCustomer Experience
Knowledge Workers
Graduates
Administrators
Operations
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WHO ARE THE REAL AGENTS OF CHANGE IN BUSINESS? The originators of change and innovation in a business are much less likely to occupy senior positions or high profile roles in a business
2%
17%
25%
26%
27%
30%
39%
39%
52%
57%
Don't Know
Administrators and support personnel
Graduates / New joiners
Business process specialists
Executive Group / Board Members
R&D professionals
Leadership teams
Customer facing personnel
Business function knowledge workers – HR / Finance / Sales etc.
Domain Experts
From what groups do the ideas for innovation and change around systems and processes most likely come from in your business?
Base size: Total (1004)
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BRAND ADVOCATE PERSONAS
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SharkySheldon
SilentSally
Chatty Charlie
Job Role: Marketing / HR / Sales
Key Stakeholder Influencers:Executive Team and own department Perceived as…The social champion Leading edge thinking and digital activist…and a bit of pain!
Job Role: Sales
Key Stakeholder Influencers:CSO, CEO, CFO
Perceived as…Does anything to close a dealInvests time in social but skeptical towards the value
Job Role: Knowledge worker / category expert Key Stakeholder Influencers:Peers, line manager and executive teamPerceived as…CredibleBrand loyal but without the platform or responsibility to be heard
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THREE ROUTES TO SOCIAL ADVOCACY
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PLAY INSPIRERENT
Turning Sharky Sheldon into a social media hound
Firing up the outbound teams
Providing social surrogates for busy executives
Men in suits talking shop
Giving Silent Sally a platform and voice
‘We create amazing’
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THREE ROUTES TO ADVOCACY
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PLAY INSPIRERENT
Great cultural shift for sales and a fun way to nurture social
Essential to be connected to commercial benefits
A high price to pay but sometimes essential.
Spend and plan wisely to ensure scalability
Aligned to HR and employee brand
High profile and potentially very impactful
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5 STEPS TO SOCIAL ADVOCACY
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Create Social STRATEGY
NURTURE pockets of interest
Make participation EASY
RECOGNISE contribution
Find KEYSTONE behaviours
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1. CREATE SOCIAL STRATEGY
• How you define social and where you position the channel in the business has exponential implications on success
• Social is a component part of other strategies. Without a function or goal it has no purpose other than to make noise
• Social success requires senior sponsorship and grass roots contribution to reduce the overall ‘cost of ownership’
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2. NURTURE POCKETS OF INTEREST
• Social adoption is a long-term commitment that is rarely utilized company-wide on a consistent basis
• Businesses are a collection of niche interest groups that participate more effectively when topics or initiatives are relevant to them
• Groups are not always departmental and cross-functional groups tend to reach a more diverse social network
– Charity fund raisers– Special interests / industry specific– Domain competancies
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3. MAKE PARTICIPATION EASY
• Social engagement works most effectively as an autonomous activity that empowers and author
• Social tools and technology platforms should be easy to use and work within flexible IT environments
• Education on how to use social platforms and the benefits of investing time in participation is essential
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4. RECOGNISECONTRIBUTION
• If the company values social presence, it should value the contribution made by the business to achieving that goal
• Rewards, big-ups, ‘props’ and company wide recognition are low cost methods to maintain social momentum
• Alignment to career and remuneration goals of the individual are also an option…but rare in practice!
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5. FIND KEYSTONE BEHAVIOURS
• Social is a aspect of many other operational activities– HR– Sales– IT / Digital– Customer Service
• Social is accessible across the ranks of the business and shares an individual’s personal platform.
• Comms professionals need to find keystone behaviours to create efficiencies in encouraging social brand advocacy
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KEYSTONE BEHAVIOURS
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“I intend to make Alcoa the safest company in America. I intend to go for zero injuries.”
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